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Alentis receives 181.4 million US dollars for cancer drugs

14.11.2024

Basel Area-based biotech company Alentis Therapeutics has raised 181.4 million US dollars in a series D funding round. The sum will be used to advance the clinical development of an extensive pipeline of its antibody-drug conjugates. They are said to have the potential to become the first and best in their class to treat cancer.

Work in the Alentis laboratory on the Main Campus of the Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area (image taken from an Alentis video)

Alentis Therapeutics with headquarters on the Main Campus of the Switzerland Innovation Park Basel Area in Allschwil in the canton of Basel-Landschaft has received 181.4 million US dollars in an oversubscribed series D funding round. These funds will be used to support the clinical development of its antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), which specifically target tumors and organ fibrosis that are positive for claudin 1 (CLDN1). CLDN1 is a hitherto unused target that plays a key role in the pathology of cancer and fibrotic diseases. The Swiss-French biotech company Alentis is conducting pioneering work in this field.

According to OrbiMed Partner Dina Chaya, Alentis’ ADCs have the potential to be first and best-in-class therapies for the treatment of cancer. OrbiMed, which is headquartered in New York, led this funding round together with the Danish company Novo Holdings and Jeito Capital from Paris. Frazier Life Sciences, Longitude Capital, Catalio Capital, Piper Heartland Healthcare Capital, and Avego Bioscience Capital joined as new investors. According to a press release, the existing investor RA Capital Management provided “significant backing” as well as Morningside Venture Investments, BB Pureos, Bpifrance, and other institutional investors.

Total funding of Alentis at 366.4 million US dollars

Chairman of Alentis Luca Santarelli commented: “I am excited about the future of Alentis, especially after this very significant financing.” Alentis’ CEO Roberto Iacone described this as “a testament to the transformational potential of CLDN1 ADCs for the treatment of solid tumors”. He added that the company would provide clinical data for its programs over the next 12-18 months.

Alentis was founded in 2018 and financed, incubated, and developed in close collaboration with BaseLaunch. Through a series A funding round concluded in 2019 and series B and series C rounds in 2021 and 2023, the company had already received 185 million US dollars previously. The proceeds from the series D round bring the total funding to 366.4 million US dollars.